Shown here at Mid-Ohio, Pomeroy contested a trio of professional Super Vee races with his air-cooled, tube frame Lola, a car he called a converted Formula Ford. Although he finished “in the money” each time, he noted that his earnings barely covered the fuel bill incurred getting to the races.
After church one Sunday in 1957, a 13-year-old Philadelphia boy named Tom Pomeroy was playing with some of his friends, when they discovered an out-of-service subway car parked on a rail siding. Exhibiting his characteristic curiosity, young Pomeroy climbed on top of it to investigate the purpose of the car’s roof-mounted pantograph. However, when he touched it, 20,000 volts of electricity surged through his body to “ground” in the steel roof, and while it did not kill him, it did give him electric burns so severe that he lost most of his right arm and the front half of both feet. Undeterred, Pomeroy set about living a normal life, and did that so well that he became a successful SCCA Club Racer, won a National Championship, and became an excellent example for anyone needing to overcome adversity. VR Associate Editor John Zimmermann recently spoke with Pomeroy about his life and his racing career.
Tom Pomeroy
First, could you discuss your recovery from your accident?
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